NEWS of the Lodges

B'nai B'rith Europe strongly condemns the boycott of the waterpolo game in Spain and regrets the lack of respect of the Olympic spirit

A women's water polo match between Israel and Spain scheduled for Tuesday was left without venue due to pressure from anti-Israel boycott activists. This match which is part of a European championship is a preliminary to the world water polo league. The Municipality of Barcelona backed down under the pressure of BDS boycott movement, and decided first to cancel the competition before relocating it.

Originally, the match was to be held in Molins de Rei, near Barcelona, but due to pressure from the CUP party and BDS activists, it has been decided to hold the Match in Barcelona. Ms Ada Colau, Mayor of Barcelona refused to host the competition.

B'nai B'rith Spain and the Licra actively contributed to ensure the game goes ahead and backed up Israel's Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev in the efforts to prevent the BDS movement from blocking the game. The match was finally held on Tuesday 6th of November in Sant Cugat in secondary level premises.

"This is totally unacceptable" said Elie Azancot, President of B'nai B'rith Spain. "The situation in Spain is critical, we have witnessed many anti-Semitic decisions in our city, including the invitation of Leyla Khalid, a Palestinian terrorist".

B'nai B'rith Europe stronlgy condemns the decision of the municipality of Barcelona, infuenced by the BDS movement which opposes the very existence of the State of Israel, a member of the United Nations.

Furthermore, at this occasion the Municipality of Barcelona was not aligned with the Olympic philosophy and its fundamental principles. Olympism says that "the enjoyment of rights and freedoms to practice sport should take place without discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex,sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status". Olympism is based on the non-discrimination principle.

Serge Dahan, President of B'nai B'rith Europe congratulates B'nai B'rith members in Spain and the LICRA for ensuring the match is held despite the illegal boycott.

"who do not agree with how current policy casts a pall over the Polish-Jewish relations developed over the years"

« Dear Brothers and Sisters, I am sending you a short letter, signed by over 30 members of our B'nai B'rith lodge Polin, as well as other Jewish personalities from Poland, Israel and US, in the hope that you will sign it and find other Jews to sign it as well.

The letter is in response to a warm letter of support to Jews (see below) signed by about 100 Polish NGOs. In addition to nice but rather minor organizations, the signatories include important institutions whom I know and highly respect like the the Forum for Dialogue, Stefan Batory Foundation, Political Critique, OKO Press, Polski PEN Club, Jan Karski Society, Stowarzyszenie Pisarzy Polskich (Association of Polish Writers), and Stowarzyszenie Otwarta Rzeczpospolita (Open Republic Society).

More Polish Jewish personalities will sign the letter, but we will make it public only when we have a number of Israeli, American and other signatures. Please send information about your signature to
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, and please forward this letter to those whom you consider to be suitable potential signatories.

We collect signatures until Thursday.

With best wishes,

Sergiusz Kowalski,

President, B'nai B'rith Lodge Polin »

The letter to be signed is following:

To all those who signed the open letter from Polish non-governmental organizations:

Your letter has touched us deeply. Thank you for your strong condemnation of anti-Semitism and for your expressions of solidarity. We would also like to thank the creators of the graphic combining Solidarity's iconic logo with the flags of Poland and Israel. We respond with gratitude, as friends to friends.

We cannot accept that the only voices heard would come from those who spread hateful tales drawing on negative stereotypes and bad emotions. There is no lack of such on both sides, but that is why your voice is so important, and we offer ours in response and in the spirit of solidarity with you.

We cannot waste the years of efforts to better our mutual understanding. History has drawn us close to each other – even if we might look at it differently. Just like you, we consider truth and reconciliation to be our common goal.

“In Israel there are 6,500 startup firms registered, which makes it worldwide number 2 in absolute figures.Â Regarding the number of startups per capita Israel is by far the number 1, which earned it the title of “Startup Nation”.

The B’nai B’rith Franz Rosenzweig Lodge Düsseldorf in cooperation with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation organised a podium discussion about the innovative Israeli economy and the potential for German-Israeli cooperations.

After greetings by the Director of the Northrhine-Westphalia branch of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and by Dr. Michael Naor, president of the B’nai B’rith Lodge, 4 Experts presented different aspects of the topic.

Doron Abrahami, the Israeli attaché for Economy and Commerce at the Embassy of the State of Israel in Berlin (photo, 1. from left), gave an overview about Israeli innovations, current trends of international investments in Israel as well as large-scale research & development activities of global players in the country.

Dr. Markus Gick, Senior Project manager at the Bertelsmann Foundation (photo, 1. from right), reported about a study he did about German-Israeli economic relations and highlighted the benefits of the Israeli High-Tech Ecosystem for German firms.

Roy Naor, an associate at the international law firm DWF (photo, 3. from right), gave an overview about legal and procedural aspects in the bilateral economic relations. He especially elaborated on the area of Cybersecurity as one of the most important and interesting fields for German firms, since most of the technologies in this area come from Israel and the USA.

Dr. Philipp Raidt, Head of Portfolio at Axel Springer Digital Classifieds in Berlin (photo, 2. from left), presented the experiences of his enterprise having so far invested in 3 firms in Israel. He described the typical atmosphere in the country and the typical mentality of Israelis, hinting at helpful approaches in order to gain from it.

About 120 guests came to the event, which took place at the Business Club of Düsseldorf (“Wirtschaftsclub"). Among them Christoph Dammermann, the State Secretary in the Ministry for Economy and Commerce of the State of Northrhine-Westphalia, Dr. Oded Horowitz, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Jewish Community, representatives of the City of Düsseldorf, of the Chamber of Commerce and a number of personalities from local public life.

After a round of discussion with all the lecturers guests were invited to a get-together with wine and canapés, which enabled further networking in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere".

B'nai B'rith Europe denounces and condemns the "march of Lukov ", neo-Nazi demonstration which is to be held on February 17th in Sofia

The Bulgarian National union organizes on February 17th a "torchlight parade" in Sofia in honour of Bulgarian fascist Hristo Lukov.

Nazis, xenophobes and anti-Semite slogans are chanted during this neo-Nazi demonstration, called "march of Lukov" which is held since 2003.

The president of B'nai B'rith Europe, Serge Dahan, firmly condemns the "march of Lukov" of February 17th, a demonstration in the glory of the Nazi general Hristo Lukov, who took part in the repression of the Bulgarian Jewish community before and during the Second World War; Hristo Lukov was the chief of the Union of the Bulgarian National Legions.

In a context of anti-Semitism growing in Europe and the multiplications of anti-Jewish actions in Bulgaria, B'nai B'rith Europe asks political leaders and representatives of Bulgarian civil society to intensify their efforts to prevent the holding of this demonstration and to publicly denounce the organizers of the Walk of Lukov who promote hatred and rejection of the other.

The President of the B'nai B'rith Europe Lodge of Sofia, Rafael Chichek, also reported many anti-Semite demonstrations in Bulgaria which reminds the Nazi hate of the years 1930.

The Jewish community recalled in an official statement of B'nai B'rith of Sofia the "public and media appearances of Metodi Andreev and Ivo Hristov, civils servant of the ministry of Defense, who made the salute in front of the cameras; the profanation of the Jewish cemetery of Sofia, the profanation of the Alyosha monument in Plovdiv and the monument dedicated in memory of Jewish prisoners burned in the camp of Kaylaka in Pleven".

The President of B'nai B'rith Europe points out that Bulgaria holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency since January 2018 at the council of the European Union, request the Bulgarian Government to take appropriate measures against the authors of these anti-Semite demonstrations and expresses the wish to see the Bulgarian authorities denouncing the walk of Lukov as a manifestation of the ideology of hatred and historical revisionism.

During the two last years, the march was technically prohibited, but was authorized to continue nevertheless authorized to continue without intervention of the police.

B'nai B'rith Europe joined the 7th Round Table of the European Commission with representatives of Jewish organizations in Brussels

B'nai B'rith Europe Director of the Brussels office, represented the President of B'nai B'rith Europe, Serge Dahan, during the 7th Round table of the European Commission gathering main European Jewish organizations.

The meeting focused on the monitoring results of illegal hate speech online as well as on the counter terrorism measures addressed by Gilles de Kerchove, EU Counter-Terrorism coordinator.

B'nai B'rith Europe, through the Director of the Brussels office, had the opportunity to present its actions and its commitment in this fight against anti-Semitism in Europe by evoking the publication project of a compendium on anti-Semitism which includes an analysis of the

various forms of anti-Semitism, basing itself on the real life experiences of its representation in 25 countries in Europe.